Death toll from Philippine typhoon nears 300

Residents cross a river with the body of a child after retrieving it from the flash flood-hit village of Andap, in New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012, a day after the devastating Typhoon Bopha made landfall. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Residents cross a river with the body of a child after retrieving it from the flash flood-hit village of Andap, in New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012, a day after the devastating Typhoon Bopha made landfall. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Residents walk to an evacuation center after retrieving their belongings at the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines, Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

Residents walk to an evacuation center after retrieving their belongings at the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines, Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Children retrieve their books and other belongings from their damaged home Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012, a day after powerful Typhoon Bopha hit Montevista township, in the Compostela Valley in southern Philippines. Typhoon Bopha (local name Pablo), one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people and forcing more than 50,000 to flee from inundated villages. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

Children retrieve their books and other belongings from their damaged home Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012, a day after powerful Typhoon Bopha hit Montevista township, in the Compostela Valley in southern Philippines. Typhoon Bopha (local name Pablo), one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people and forcing more than 50,000 to flee from inundated villages. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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A resident dries their clothes amidst their toppled house at the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

A resident dries their clothes amidst their toppled house at the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Relatives grieve as they view bodies recovered from floods in New Bataan, Compostela Valley province, southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. The death toll from Typhoon Bhopa climbed to more than 100 people Wednesday, while scores of others remain missing in the worst-hit areas of the southern Philippines. (AP Photo/Karlos Manlupig)— AP

Relatives grieve as they view bodies recovered from floods in New Bataan, Compostela Valley province, southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. The death toll from Typhoon Bhopa climbed to more than 100 people Wednesday, while scores of others remain missing in the worst-hit areas of the southern Philippines. (AP Photo/Karlos Manlupig)
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Residents cross a river using suspended ropes at Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, a day after Typhoon Bopha made landfall. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

Residents cross a river using suspended ropes at Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, a day after Typhoon Bopha made landfall. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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A resident hangs clothing amid fallen trees and debris a day after Typhoon Bopha made landfall in the village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

A resident hangs clothing amid fallen trees and debris a day after Typhoon Bopha made landfall in the village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Residents cross a river in the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

Residents cross a river in the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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A child stands near his family's damaged house Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012, a day after powerful Typhoon Bopha hit Montevista township Compostela Valley in southern Philippines. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

A child stands near his family's damaged house Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012, a day after powerful Typhoon Bopha hit Montevista township Compostela Valley in southern Philippines. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Rosalinda Pasko tearfully breaks the news to a relative of the death of 2 of her family members at the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)— AP

Rosalinda Pasko tearfully breaks the news to a relative of the death of 2 of her family members at the flash flood-hit village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley in southern Philippines Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012. Typhoon Bopha, one of the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines this year, barreled across the country's south on Tuesday, killing scores of people while triggering landslides, flooding and cutting off power in two entire provinces. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
/ AP

NEW BATAAN, Philippines 
Stunned parents searching for missing children examined a row of mud-stained bodies covered with banana leaves while survivors dried their soaked belongings on roadsides Wednesday, a day after a powerful typhoon killed nearly 300 people in the southern Philippines.

Officials fear more bodies may be found as rescuers reach hard-hit areas that were isolated by landslides, floods and downed communications.

At least 151 people died in the worst-hit province of Compostela Valley when Typhoon Bopha lashed the region Tuesday, including 78 villagers and soldiers who perished in a flash flood that swamped two emergency shelters and a military camp, provincial spokeswoman Fe Maestre said.

Disaster-response agencies reported 284 dead in the region and 14 fatalities elsewhere from the typhoon, one of the strongest to hit the country this year.

About 80 people survived the deluge in New Bataan with injuries, and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who visited the town, said 319 others remained missing.

"These were whole families among the registered missing," Roxas told the ABS-CBN TV network. "Entire families may have been washed away."

The farming town of 45,000 people was a muddy wasteland of collapsed houses and coconut and banana trees felled by Bopha's ferocious winds.

Bodies of victims were laid on the ground for viewing by people searching for missing relatives. Some were badly mangled after being dragged by raging flood waters over rocks and other debris. A man sprayed insecticide on the remains to keep away swarms of flies.

A father wept when he found the body of his child after lifting a plastic cover. A mother, meanwhile, went away in tears, unable to find her missing children. "I have three children," she said repeatedly, flashing three fingers before a TV cameraman.

Two men carried the mud-caked body of an unidentified girl that was covered with coconut leaves on a makeshift stretcher made from a blanket and wooden poles.

Dionisia Requinto, 43, felt lucky to have survived with her husband and their eight children after swirling flood waters surrounded their home. She said they escaped and made their way up a hill to safety, bracing themselves against boulders and fallen trees as they climbed.

"The water rose so fast," she told AP. "It was horrible. I thought it was going to be our end."

In nearby Davao Oriental, the coastal province first struck by the typhoon as it blew from the Pacific Ocean, at least 115 people perished, mostly in three towns that were so battered that it was hard to find any buildings with roofs remaining, provincial officer Freddie Bendulo and other officials said.

"We had a problem where to take the evacuees. All the evacuation centers have lost their roofs," Davao Oriental Gov. Corazon Malanyaon said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued an urgent appeal for $4.8 million to help people directly affected by the typhoon.

The sun was shining brightly for most of the day Wednesday, prompting residents to lay their soaked clothes, books and other belongings out on roadsides to dry and revealing the extent of the damage to farmland. Thousands of banana trees in one Compostela Valley plantation were toppled by the wind, the young bananas still wrapped in blue plastic covers.